10 Things You Didn't Know About Southern Comfort

Few brands can claim to have 140 years of staying power. Southern Comfort has been a favorite (or hated favorite) of American drinkers since 1874. But how much do you really know about SoCo? What is it? Bourbon, malt, NyQuil? Whether your liquor cabinet is never complete without a bottle of it or whether you think it tastes like Red Bull mixed with Lysol, there’s no getting around the fact that Southern Comfort is an American original with some deep roots.

We dug through 140 years of SoCo history to find out some of the secrets to the liqueur’s longevity.

Soco Was Created Out of Epicurean Necessity.

The distinctive taste of Southern Comfort was created out of epicurean necessity and pure American entrepreneurship. Back in 1874, whiskey would make its way downstream from Tennessee and Kentucky and by the time it would arrive in New Orleans it wasn’t always in the best of shape. So, local bartender Martin Wilkes "M.W" Heron set out to make a whiskey-based drink that would keep a consistent flavor during the long journey downstream. He tinkered with different recipes and eventually came up with a winning one. He called his new concoction “Cuffs and Buttons.” Heron served his whiskey drink to bar patrons the traditional way, right out of the barrel.

Sothern Comfort is a 140 Year-Old Secret Recipe.

For nearly 140 years the recipe for SoCo's distinctive flavor has been a well-kept secret. Heron had some stiff whiskey competition in New Orleans, so he used to personally mix individual batches of his drink for his customers. He only revealed his secret recipe to one person: Grant M. Peoples, his assistant. After Heron's death in 1920, (the same year prohibition began. Coincidence?) Peoples became the official keeper of the SoCo recipe and took over the business. Most drinkers describe Southern Comfort as tasting "apricoty," but it probably also includes oranges, cherries, vanilla, cinnamon and other spices that would have been available to Heron in New Orleans at the time.

A Bottle of the liqueur cost $2.50 in 1889.

Heron eventually moved from New Orleans to Memphis and started bottling his secret recipe, which he renamed "Southern Comfort" to attract a wider clientele. In 1889 he began selling bottles of it for a whopping $2.50, about $60 in today's currency, the cost of a decent single-malt.

Soco's Official Trademark is “None Genuine But Mine.”

Take out that bottle of SoCo from the back of your liquor cabinet and check out the bottom of the front label where you’ll see a bold claim. In 1898 Heron officially registered his trademark which is still printed on each bottle today: "None Genuine But Mine.” He was facing some stiff competitors and he was not a subtle man.

The liqueur Won a Gold Medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

SoCo went global in 1900. Heron took his whiskey drink to the Paris World Exposition where it won a gold medal for fine taste and excellent quality. It won the same medal again at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Fresh off his big win, Heron created his first SoCo cocktail at the fair, and called it the St. Louis Cocktail, naturally. He anticipated great things for his new drink, but he came up with a motto that advocated temperance: "Limit 2 to a customer. (No gentleman would ask for more.)" Creative and courteous! Another whiskey maker also won a gold medal at the St. Louis fair, one Jasper "Jack" Daniel.

The label depicts an illustration of the Woodland Plantation in Louisiana.

Starting in 1934, the Southern Comfort label depicted an illustration of the Woodland Plantation in Louisiana, which was later registered with the National Register of Historic Places. Today it’s a Bed and Breakfast, but like any respectable plantation, it has its own cocktail.

WOODLAND PUNCH

1 part Southern Comfort
2 parts unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 part club soda
Dash of cherry juice
Squeeze of lime (optional)
Mix and serve in a tall glass on the rocks.

American Air Force pilots in WWII named their planes “Southern Comfort."

Fighter pilots are known to give their planes nicknames like Black Widow and Skyraider. During World War II, a few homesick American Air Force pilots named their planes "Southern Comfort." Soldiers shared their love of SoCo with their European allies and after the war SoCo began to distribute internationally first in England.

The Scarlett O'Hara Cocktail Features Soco.

Nothing says old Hollywood like Southern Comfort. Or at least that’s what Southern Comfort marketers were banking on when they created the Scarlett O’Hara cocktail for the release of Gone With the Wind in 1939.

Janis Joplin Loved It To Death.

Janis Joplin loved her Southern Comfort. She brought a bottle on stage with her often. She was so associate with the drink that Southern Comfort gave her a fur coat as a thanks for all the free publicity. It’s unclear what their move was after Joplin died of the effects of heroin mixed with alcohol.

Southern Comfort was The Butt Of An Offensive Early Internet Prank.

In 2000 Southern Comfort was the butt of a raunchy practical joke that went viral (as viral as things could get back in 2000). Someone doctored a photo of a Southern Comfort billboard featuring the silhouette of the bottle with the caption “Liquid panty remover.” A lot of people thought it was a real billboard, from the outraged editors at Bitch Magazine to the Domestic Violence Collaborative of Jackson, Ohio who awarded the company’s brand manager with the "De-evolution of Women's Rights Snake Award." Others just called for a boycott. Bloomberg Businessweek took a different approach, sagely reminding readers that the incident “should serve as a stark warning for companies that view the Web as a marketing tool and not as a double-edged sword.” So quaint.

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